Finding Yourself in Your Family Story

Finding Yourself in Your Family Story
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My son Mark just came across a photo from exactly twelve years ago. My wife, Ann, and my mother are sitting at a picnic table; I am lying on the grass (“typically,” Mark said; I am not sure what to make of that). Somewhere in the vicinity are our other son, Steven, and his wife, Sue, because it is a family farewell party on the Sunday before Ann and I undertake the biggest move of our lives. Three days later (twelve years ago tomorrow, as I write), we will get on the plane for that strange flight that starts in mid-afternoon and leaves you in Los Angeles still in the early evening even though it is eleven hours later. Among the poignancies of the moment is the fact that Ann’s being wheelchair-bound means we will not be making the trip back across the Atlantic as other people do, and my mother’s being nearly ninety means she will not be making the trip to see us, so we have had to face the fact that we are unlikely all to be together again. Behind us in the photo is our house, in which you could see the marks of preparation for this move. We have pointed out to our sons that this is the time they have to collect any of the belongings they left there when they moved out, and what they did not collect has gone to the thrift store. Most of the belongings we intend to take were shipped some weeks ago so they would get there before us (they didn’t, but that’s another story). Now, we simply have to pack our actual suitcases...

At the beginning of Numbers, the Israelites encamped at Mount Sinai are about to resume the biggest move of their lives. It should take about eleven days to complete it, rather than eleven hours. Actually it will take astonishingly longer, for reasons that will emerge. The first ten chapters of the book concern preparations for this move...


Taken from Numbers and Deuteronomy for Everyone by John Goldingay